Zhirinovsky cheats at card finals

August 1, 1997 9:00am

MOSCOW, July 30 (JTA) — Russian ultra-nationalist Vladimir

Zhirinovsky was disqualified at a recent championship involving the

popular Russian card game Fool.

After boasting before the Moscow tournament that “politics and cards require skilled bluffing,” the controversial leader of the Liberal Democratic party found that the first game he played was annulled. The reason: he was cheating. Zhirinovsky was subsequently allowed to play another game, which he lost. The winners, including chess champion Anatoly Karpov in third place, received prizes bearing the slogan, “Russia Should Become Smarter.”